Harry Kane insisted England should be proud of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign despite a flat end to the year with a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia. England topped their group, finishing six points ahead of Italy, to book their place in Germany with two games to spare. Kane told Channel 4: “Difficult game, we knew it would be and it was tough against a decent side playing on a pitch that is difficult to play our style of football on. “We went 1-0 behind against the run of play with a soft penalty. It was good to get on the pitch. It was important for us to get a goal back and a shame we couldn’t get a second.” England equalised seconds after Kane came on as a substitute and pressured Jani Atanasov into scoring an own goal. “I’m pretty sure it was an own goal,” he added. “If anyone was going to get a second it was us. “We can be really proud of how the qualifying campaign has gone.” Kyle Walker captained England from the start, with Manchester City team-mate Rico Lewis making his debut a day before his 19th birthday. “I think after the qualifying we’ve had it was always going to be tough here but we dug in and got a point,” Walker told Channel 4. “It’s football. It’s been a short week, two games when we’ve already qualified. It’s no excuses, we know we should be taking three points from here but it’s something to work on for the future.” Lewis was harshly penalised for the penalty which led to North Macedonia’s opening goal. Enis Bardhi saw his spot-kick saved by Jordan Pickford but was first to the rebound to lash his side ahead “The man to my right has probably received an unfair decision there,” added Walker. “He deserves this cap and happy birthday for tomorrow.” Lewis said: “Overall I’m very happy – not with the decision that went against me – but I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better. I’m not really focused on any tournaments, just on myself and what I can do to get better.” Boss Gareth Southgate thought the penalty decision against Lewis was “really harsh”. “He was excellent,” Southgate told Channel 4. “His composure with the ball and the way he responded to that really harsh setback, he’s a super footballer and he was excellent.” It was not the end to the qualifying campaign Southgate wanted, but he added: “The really big results were in March against Italy and Ukraine. It meant coming here tonight was a completely different test. “I thought that given we had already qualified and everything had been achieved the mentality of the players was excellent. “The quality on the ball was good on a difficult pitch. Just that final pass or finish was difficult to find. But I thought there were lots of positive performances.” Read More Phil Taylor to retire from darts at the end of next year Everton’s 10-point penalty ‘grossly unjust’ and should be suspended, says MP Rob Page: Wales not entertaining Euro 2024 play-off talk before Turkey qualifier Mayor of Liverpool writes to Premier League over ‘excessive’ Everton penalty 5 talking points ahead of Republic of Ireland’s friendly against New Zealand Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds push on with Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground plans

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By Lori Ewing MANCHESTER, England The way for Manchester United to weather their current storm is to stick

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Gareth Southgate advised players not to be stressed by summer transfer talk after joking the England squad have been “tapping each other up” throughout this camp. This mammoth, unprecedented season finally comes to a close with Monday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia at a sold-out Old Trafford. England won 4-0 in Malta on Friday and are expected to take another step towards next summer’s tournament by winning a Group C clash played out against a backdrop of transfer talk. Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Kyle Walker are subject of summer interest, while Harry Maguire, Conor Gallagher and Kalvin Phillips have decisions to make over their lack of game time at club level. There is also speculation about Jordan Pickford and James Maddison, but Southgate has not felt the need to speak to players about it – even though the former defender does have some advice. “I haven’t felt the need to say anything,” Southgate said. “I mean, the players are tapping each other up anyway on the quiet, so I can’t do anything about that! “What I have said is that these things run their course, they happen in their own time, you can’t force it as a player. “Don’t get frustrated, don’t be asking all summer. You don’t need to be updated on every call that happens. “There’s a lot of negotiation that goes on. I remember as a player getting too wrapped up in every detail of that. “In the end, there’s only a small amount that you can actually control. “I think all of those things will happen later on in the summer and I think the players understand that, really. “And they know the focus for the next 36 hours is this game, finishing the season well, making sure we’re set on 12 points and we’ll be in a very healthy position if we do that.” Southgate was speaking alongside left-back Luke Shaw at Sunday’s pre-match press conference and the defender smiled when “tapping up” was mentioned. England are training at Manchester United’s Carrington base and the 27-year-old posted an Instagram story on Saturday showing pictures of him next to Kane and another with Rice. The Old Trafford giants have a longstanding interest in both, and Shaw tagged them in the post with the caption “Carrington tour” and an eyes emoji. Asked who he has been tapping up, Shaw said with a laugh: “There’s a few.” When Mason Mount, another United are interested in, was mentioned to him, Shaw said: “Obviously he’s not here but I think it is all just a bit of banter, really. “Obviously we have a joke and a laugh about it, not too sure what goes on behind the scenes. “It’s to do with the club, really, but of course when we are here we are always together and we have a joke about it. “I don’t really know too much what is going on. That’s just it really.” Shaw looks set to start on Monday as Old Trafford hosts the national men’s team for the first time since 2007. England also played there the previous year against Macedonia – a drab 0-0 draw in what proved to be a failed Euro 2008 qualification campaign. They drew 2-2 in their only other home meeting against the Balkan nation, who Southgate is not taking lightly as he looks to make it third time lucky. “They should have won the other night against Ukraine really,” the England boss said. “So we know the quality of some of the individual players. “They have got some players playing at big European clubs. As a team they function well. “They obviously knocked Italy out of the last World Cup and pushed Portugal close in those knockout games. So, they have got pedigree. “They bring the game to you a bit more than perhaps we had the other night as well. “So, it isn’t just a case of rolling on from Friday, it is a step up in intensity and quality and we’ve got to be right on our game to win the match.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Italy finish third in Nations League after beating the Netherlands Katie Boulter fulfils childhood ambition with ‘special’ victory at Nottingham Gareth Southgate sees a tougher test for his team at Old Trafford

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